Ilham Aliyev: We must look to the future

Baku/20.05.21/Turan: "Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is over and settled. We must look to the future".

This was stated by President Ilham Aliyev at a video discussion at the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre entitled "The South Caucasus: prospects for regional development and cooperation".

He believes that despite 30 years of occupation and widespread destruction and damage in the liberated lands, Azerbaijan is ready to look to the future and make plans for the future as part of a unified South Caucasus.

"We hope that the time will come when we can talk about active cooperation and integration in the South Caucasus. In the meantime, we have put forward a number of important proposals and initiatives related to the opening of communication and transport corridors, which are reflected in the joint statement of November 10, 2020. I can say that the work on implementation of that project has already begun. Azerbaijan has already allocated technical and financial resources for that. The opening of the Zangezur corridor will open new opportunities for all countries in the region.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan is ready to build a common future.

"Since we are neighbours, we have to live side by side, whether we want to or not, we have to learn to live together again".

The head of state believes that the Second Karabakh War created a new reality in the region.

"The Armenian state is in crisis. Armenia has deprived itself of all projects in the region. As a result of the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan liberated the lands occupied by Armenia. A new reality has emerged in the region since the trilateral statement signed on 10 November 2020."

"They have lost time, they have been left out of Azerbaijan's initiatives on energy projects and transport development, they have lost territories that they have occupied and that do not belong to them either historically or under international law," he said. -03-